Singled Out: Jesse Eplan's Dank

01-10-2018.

18-year-old hip-hop artist Jesse Eplan recently released his new EP "Trap Harmony". To celebrate we asked him to tell us the story behind the track "Dank" which he also wrote and produced. Here is the story:

I was a senior in high school applying for colleges. At first I was thinking about staying local and attending Nassau Community College. That way, I would be close to home and able to record/ hang out at Victorious Sounds Studio in Central Islip, NY.

Over spring break , I visited the University of Tampa , which was one of the schools I was admitted to. The school was completely different from home because it had nice weather and different scenery. About 3 weeks before I left for college, I decided to create an EP with 6 songs. I wanted to name the EP 'Trap Harmony.' This is because the type of music is in its name. It includes Trap/R&B rhythms, drum patterns, and layered leads and pads to create harmony.

In this EP, I wanted to write a song about Tampa, considering I was leaving in a couple of weeks and my lifestyle was about to change. So one of the days that I was in the studio, I was working on this song that I named 'Dank.' Another producer Ricky Belfort was also at Victorious Sounds just hanging out. He worked on the beat with me while he was there, adding small effects to enhance the song.

The whole idea around 'Dank' is just being yourself, hanging out with friends, and doing what college kids do. For example, the line "put me in coach, I'm about to go HAM" means "I got this, this is all me." If you look into the word "dank" you can figure out what I'm talking about without incriminating me and my college friends. For the song itself, I wanted to use a positive and upbeat sound. I think I accomplished that.

We recently filmed the music video at the University of Tampa to show the actual scenery of the campus, which you will all see in the soon to be released video. The producer caught some great shots of the city with a drone. We also had great weather so the pool scene was crazy, as was the convertible driving through the streets of Tampa with me and my friends. Police are also different in Tampa as opposed to New York. They saw us hanging out of a convertible, no seatbelts, and they just waved to us.

I really feel once the video gets released, people of all ages will appreciate college for what it is. I'm happy 'Dank' was able to accomplish this!

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself and learn more about the albumright here!